Native American Literature

Introduces Native American authors and provides a glimpse into their culture, historical perspective, and world-view.

From oral tradition to the written word, this history of Native American literature highlights such authors as Wilma Mankiller, Will Rogers, and N. Scott Momaday.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9This fine introduction to the long history of Native American oral and written literature includes authors of books for children and adults. Beginning with an explanation of the traditional oral transmission of stories and histories, the author discusses the place of songs, chants, myths, and prayers in Native cultures. The remaining chapters highlight Native writings in English. Beginning with Christian converts Samson Occom and William Apes, Gleason describes other early writers such as George Copway, Sarah Winnemucca, John Rollin Ridge, and Emily Pauline Johnson. The fertile era of the 20th century is divided into two sections: 1900-1967 and 1968 to the present. Some of the early 20th-century authors introduced are Mourning Dove (the first American Indian woman to pen a novel), Charles Eastman, Luther Standing Bear, Zitkala-Sa, Francis La Flesche, D'Arcy McNickle, John Joseph Mathews, and Will Rogers. The chapter on post-1967 writers features Pulitzer Prize winner N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, James Welch, Gerald Vizenor, Louise Erdrich, Joseph Bruchac, and Michael Dorris. This well-written and informative book is flawed, however, by the inclusion of Jamake Highwater, whose Indian identity has been seriously questioned. A glossary of literary terms, a chronology of key Native literary works, and a photo-essay of Native artists illustrating Native literature round out this very useful title.Lisa Mitten, University of Pittsburgh, PA